Whisky Reviews for
Tullibardine
2005 - The Murray

[July, 2018] Another year, another bottle as an incentive to join the whisky24.de club (that is nothing else than a smart customer loyalty program, actually). This time a rather unusual bold red wine finish that are much more complicated than other wine finishes because of the heavy acids these wines contribute (and that often fight the malt flavours rather than integrate into a balanced mix). The colour is amber and the texture shows fat tears with slow legs. The nose offers a sour-sweet winey profile with fruits (apricots, peaches) and rather shy malt aromas. The wine is clearly dominant here. The whisky arrives unimpressive in the mouth with neither a significant warming nor a coating effect but a little bitter-astringent feeling. The taste is winey, sugary and somewhat bitter. Not really to my liking because the flavours did not integrate very well (like so often with these tricky wine finishes). The finish is short and adds no new impressions. Water just flattens the dram. This is another red wine finish that is unbalanced and a kind of "fighting flavours" profile that the wine aromas clearly win - not my style, unfortunately. I comped the bottle to a friend that liked it...

Nose

83
83

Taste

79
79

Finish

A very mild and elegant malt. From the color and the slightly sour fruit components I would type in a port finish. The alcohol content should be between 43 and 46%. At the age I am a little heavier with 15-18 years, rather younger. Probably I had a Speysider or Highlander in the glass, I would almost tap on a Ben Nevis. In any case, I really liked this blindsample with its mild and harmonic style. I also really liked the interplay between the sweet and sour fruit flavors. Since I liked this sample very well, but I miss a little volume and complexity, I spontaneously award 88 points today.

Nose

Old pink shines the blindsample amber with a reddish or pink shimmer in the glass. Astonishingly little streaks and legs form on the glass wall, only after some time long and oily drops flow back into the glass. Slightly sour fruit flavors pour from the premium snifter, peaches and creamy apricot rise. The nose is initially very restrained, except the sour fruit flavors are barely perceptible other flavors, the alcohol is wonderfully harmonious involved. From the creamy apricot-peach mixture rhubarb and raspberries come out, strawberries and sweet cherries follow. The sweet fruit component becomes more complex and intense, a touch of vanilla and subtle mandarin flavor is in the foreground. The alcohol becomes stronger over time, but is still wonderfully harmoniously integrated. Slowly, my salivation begins, I want to finally try the dummy sample.

Taste

Mild and slightly thin, the dummy sample flows over the tongue. Again, sweet fruit components such as strawberries and raspberries come out, as well as velvety apricot and vineyard peach to light. In the background are again slightly sour fruit flavors, a few drops of lemon drip on grapes and dark nectarines. The second sip is also relatively mild and elegant. Slowly, a minimal sharpness on the palate, a few colorful peppercorns rest on the tongue, again show slightly acidic impacts. With hints of hazelnuts and subtle spicy wood tones, the taste goes into the aftertaste.

Finish

The initially subtle sharpness flares up again in the aftermath, a touch of toasted aromas and grapes. Green grapes mix with minimal citrus aromas, and the slightly sourish fruit aromas are also reflected in the finish. The finely spicy wood tones are slightly bitter, dark chocolate and hints of espresso just amaze me a little. The complete finish is like the nose and the taste extremely mild and just harmoniously matched to each other. A touch of meadow herbs sticks under the tongue, the aftertaste sounds relatively fast, but at the moment it gets its second air and once again exudes its sweetly tart fruit flavors.